Reversal of Republican Sen. Rob Portman’s stand on same-sex marriage, influenced by his son’s coming out as gay, brought thunder from anti-gay right wing groups, including one bizarre satire that appeared to equate sexual preference with alcohol abuse and drunken driving.

Andrea Lafferty, head of the Traditional Values Coalition, posted a mocking fake news release in which Portman said: “My child is a drunk driver and I love him. It is a part of his identity, who he is.”

Sen. Rob Portman (r) travels with Mitt Romney during 2012 campaign. The conservative Republican Senator from Ohio has come out for same-sex marriage, after student son Will Portman came out as a gay to his parents.

Lafferty sobered up but kept sneering with her subsequent message, writing:

“This unreleased press statement follows the same twisted, self-serving logic that several public officials have used in explaining their switch from opposing homosexual marriage to favoring it. If you remember nothing else from this exchange, remember this: Our children are learners and unable to determine morality and then hand it down to their parents and other impressionable adults. This is one factor in why our culture is so morally upside down.”

The Traditional Values Coalition is an extreme group, although Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney traveled with its founder in his 2008 Iowa Caucus campaign.

The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, funded largely by Catholic groups, took a more direct approach toward Portman. It threatened the political future of the Republican Senator from Ohio. Portman was a runner-up in Mitt Romney’s search for a 2012 running mate. He is a former director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

“What Mr. Portland is doing is shrinking the size of the GOP tent: I think it will have huge consequences if he chooses to run again,” Thomas Peters of NOM told Politico. “As far as Sen. Portman and presidential chances, I think he can say good-bye to those. We can say every time a Republican has come out for gay marriage, he ignites the grassroots.”

The Republicans who have “come out” for marriage equality include ex-Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a married lesbian daughter with two children, ex-first lady Laura Bush, former Secretary of State Collin Powell, and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ryan Anderson headlined an article on The Foundry website, “Portman: Right on the Court, Wrong on Marriage, and argued: “All Americans have the right to live as they choose, but no one has a right to redefine marriage for the rest of us.”

Portman said he has come to support the view that two people who love each other should be united in marriage, even if of the same gender. He began to redefine his position after son Will, then a freshman at Yale, told his parents that he was gay.

But Portman argued in The Columbus Dispatch that the decision on legalizing marriage equality should be left to the “democratic process in the states” and not decided for the country by the U.S. Supreme Court. “An expansive court ruling would run the risk of deepening divisions rather than resolving them,” he wrote.

Leaden sarcasm is an instrument frequently used by the political right. Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition wasn’t alone. Erick Erickson of the Red State web site mocked Portman in a tweet, sneering: “I used to believe that Led Zeppelin was an amazing band, but then I found out my son liked rap, so I changed my views — Sen. Portman.”

Lafferty concluded with false civility and condemnation, saying: “I wish no harm to either Sen. Portman or his son, but they are wrong. And Sen. Portman’s attempt to use his position in the Senate to affect the future path of our culture and the lives of other Americans compounds the wrong.”

She then returned to the original mockery, concluding:

“The introduction to this article is satire. Drunk driving is immoral. I abhor it. I also believe homosexuality is immoral and sinful.”